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Arquebus
During the last years of the Middle Ages, gunpowder's explosive recipe was discovered. At first, it was used for simple bombs and other useful work; however, it would fall to the Chinese to take the extra step and begin development of the gun in the 13th century. At first, this was only simplistic cannons lit by a match to a touch-hole; however, these deadly gunpowder weapons began to increasingly appear in armies. Even still, the spear, sword, or bow armed most military troops; they were only supported by cannon and the odd unwieldy hand-cannon. In the mid-1400s, the first gun-locks were developed. These were mechanisms to light the gunpowder in a hand-held firearm; with this advancement, you could keep both hands gripping the weapon and on target. This mechanism, the matchlock, would radically change military warfare in Europe and Japan. As a military weapon, the arquebus is quite simple. Its name is derived from a Dutch word meaning "hook gun"; this comes from the wooden stock upon which it rests, which does look somewhat hook-like on most arquebuses, which lacked full stocks. The weapon's matchlock action was simple; normally, one would wrap a long, slow-burning rope match around their arm and place the other end in the metal serpentine (that is, the looped arm of the action). With this in order, they would open up a cover over the flash pan, and pull the trigger. The weapon's serpentine would fall backwards, landing in the flash pan and igniting the powder. Said powder would propel a bullet- ranging from lowly .37 squirrel-gun to mighty .75 or so curb-stomper- straight through the torso of some knight or samurai. After that, one would begin the process of reloading the arquebus- pouring in new powder and ammunition, and preparing the serpentine again. While this understandably left the arquebusier quite vulnerable, most armies solved this problem by protecting them with a screen of pikemen or spearmen, as in Europe, or with defensive fortifications and rotating ranks of gunners, as in Japan. The weapon's bullet was usually very powerful and could punch straight through heavy armor. The famous line formations of the next few centuries began with this weapon, as to maximize its firepower, given its smoothbore inaccuracy, a commander needed to have his troops fire in a massed volley. It is of note that the matchlock wasn't the only lock available for weapons until the flintlock was developed; the wheel-lock, which was much like a flintlock only headachingly complex and with a spinning steel wheel, was faster to fire, and wasn't so vulnerable to rain. However, it was expensive and difficult to maintain, so only elites, officers, and nobles generally used them. In the 1540s and 60s, the arquebus was introduced to Japan by Portuguese and Dutch merchants; this would massively change battles among warring clans. The most famous example of this would be the 1575 Battle of Nagashino; Oda Nobunaga, with 3 rows of ashigaru ''(peasant soldiers) armed with ''tanegashima ''(Japanese-built matchlocks) and a set of fortifications, managed to drive off the famous Takeda clan's cavalry. This would pave the way for the death of the samurai in the late 19th century in the face of superior firepower. The arquebus itself would eventually be phased out by the musket proper, a more efficient weapon with a full stock and a highly-improved flintlock action. .... Sigh, kids these days with their assault rifles just don't know how to kill someone like a ''man. Statistics * Caliber: From .37 to .75 * Action: Matchlock, wheel-lock, etc. * Cyclic fire rate: Around 2-3 shots per minute tops * Accessories: A stock * Manliness factor: 150% Export (for making assault arquebuses) Category:Muzzle-loader Category:Smoothbore Category:Matchlock Category:Musket Category:Arquebus Category:Shotguns Category:Weapons Category:Guns